


Some Things Cannot Be Planned

by animatedrose



Series: skekTah's Adventures [6]
Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, F/M, M/M, Mpreg, Multi, Post Mpreg, baby mystics, baby urru, heights, lost urling, nrrdiarts on tumblr came up with this stuff, references to skekTah included, urTao gradually becomes a parent, urTao misses urHom, urlings, urru have mammal anatomy, urru milk, urru pounches, urru produce milk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:01:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animatedrose/pseuds/animatedrose
Summary: urTao never really got over the loss of urHom. The sudden arrival of urlings to the Valley from his fellows leaves him in a frightened state of confusion. But if it's one thing the Planner has always been, it was loyal to his family...even the tiny ones...This goes out to nrrdiarts on tumblr and all the people in the Circle of the Suns discord server. Look what you created! Again.





	Some Things Cannot Be Planned

**Author's Note:**

> I blame nrrdiarts over on tumblr and all the guys in the Circle of the Suns discord server. skekTah with baby skeklings is fun…but all that sweet urRu and urling content demands that I throw poor urTao into the fray. Because I need to write more with him.
> 
> This is broken back urTao, so this takes place past the 500 trine mark in VotSatE’s timeline.
> 
> All the urRu anatomy stuffs for baby-making and baby-caring are from nrrdiarts’ stuff. Go check them out! They’re awesome!

urTao did not know when it began or how. Perhaps he was just too focused on his own work to fully understand the situation building around him with his fellows. That was not uncommon with the Planner.

It was when he got the request to help restructure urSol’s sleeping space, to create a lower ground-based one for comfort, that the pieces at last fell into place.

“You are...carrying,” the Planner said, brows rising in surprise.

The Chanter’s reddened face told him everything. That and his swollen belly, barely peeking out beneath the sturdy robes he wore.

urTao kindly averted his gaze, spreading out his papers to put together a rough idea of what urSol was thinking of for sleeping arrangements since the sleep frame would not work with such…bodily changes. And it wouldn’t be of help with an urling on the way. The Planner idly sketched ideas with urSol making suggestions at his shoulder.

How did he not notice? Was he that wrapped up in his work that he did not smell urSol fall into heat, or notice the milky scent on urSol now that he was growing close to term? Had the Planner grown that distant from his own kind?

urTao wondered if skekTah was the same way in the castle.

Heats were not uncommon. Most fell into isolation, wrapping themselves in blankets within their caves to wait it out. A few times, the effected and another would wander away to a secluded cave away from the rest to…quell the heat. urTao had never gotten involved in such affairs and had firmly hidden himself away when his heat arrived.

He had only poked his snout into that distant cove once. It made his heart jump and he’d scurried away in shame at the sounds he heard from within, face on fire as his mind put unwanted imagery to sound.

urTao was horribly used to craving for things that he was too afraid to ask for. Even this.

.o.o.o.o.

urSol’s urling brought about a sense of excitement in the valley. It was invigorating.

For the longest time, it was just the seventeen of them. urTao had mourned when poor urHom the Carpenter had passed and all of them remembered the sudden but violent loss of urYa, who had only lived for minutes before he was sent plunging down the shaft of fire. When they arrived in the valley, it was quietly accepted that they would be among themselves, alone for the rest of their existences.

urSol’s pregnancy changed that. It didn’t need to just be them seventeen, for now a new life had sprung forth. Eighteen urRu. An addition that nobody had thought would happen.

The urling was small, covered in soft fuzz. Blind and barely able to move on their own. urTao only bore witness to the infant for a few minutes before they was tucked away in urSol’s pouch.

Under the weight of his work in finishing the task urSol gave him, the Planner eventually forgot the scrap of fluff that he’d seen. Bidding the Chanter a proper rest when the job was complete, urTao moved on to other tasks at hand.

Despite his fear of growing distant, he closed himself off again in favor of working and fixing what structures his fellows had. It was around that time of trine where things began to break and he, in the Carpenter’s place, had to rebuild them.

He needed to be so careful when doing this. He had to keep an ear out for any odd sounds from his back. If the branches creaked too much or the heavy material wound around his chest grew too tight, he had to withdraw and rest. Though it had been a few trine, the broken vertebrae were still fragile.

urTao did not wish to relive that horrific day where, out of nowhere, he’d dropped limp to the floor of the valley mid-conversation, his back on fire yet he was unable to cry out. Rendered paralyzed by pain and a flood of numbness to his lower half. Even to this day, he did not know what skekTah had done to result in their back breaking in such a manner.

The Planner was surprised that he could still walk, still work. Some days, he was in too much pain to move. Other days, it was like the accident never occurred.

But there was always the fear that he would overdo it and break his spine next, finish the job that skekTah had initiated, however unintentionally it may have been.

This was pushed aside in favor of his job, his obligation to the others. His promise to urHom to keep working to the best of his ability. So, despite the fear, urTao continued to plan and sketch and build the things his kind—his family—needed to survive and work comfortably in the valley.

.o.o.o.o.

urTao ignored the weird sensation in his gut at first. He continued to sketch plans to rebuild one of urAmaj’s cooking surfaces. The soft scratching of charcoal on parchment filled his ears.

The Planner paused, feeling the odd sensation again. Like his stomach gurgling but without the sound. More external too. He moved a hand down to rub at his stomach, confused.

Something latched onto one of his fingers and he jerked back in sudden surprise, rearing up onto all six limbs to lift himself bodily off of the floor. His back automatically protested the sudden arching movement, sending sparks of pain into his hips and shoulders. urTao’s long neck curled around under himself, the world upside-down as he took in what he was seeing. He blinked, momentarily lost before the answer came to him.

On the sandy ground lay an urling, a tiny scrap of a thing covered in fuzz. They lifted their small head, looking up at the round belly hovering over them. They squeaked, lifting a limb up to it before wobbling, flopping onto their side.

urTao sighed, carefully stepping aside so he could lay down again. “Hello there,” he greeted, nudging the infant with his snout. “You are…urSol’s,” he guessed.

The urling squeaked, rolling to try and regain their paws. urTao caught a glance of smooth belly, bare of fuzz. The urling began to crawl toward him again, snout nudging his stomach. It didn’t take a genius to puzzle out what the infant was looking for.

“You won’t find...milk here, little one,” he reluctantly said. He lifted his head, looking out the entrance of his cave. “Where is…urSol at?”

He grunted when he felt his pouch tug. The infant pawed at the extra layer of skin, still tight against urTao’s stomach. He frowned, scooping the infant up despite its squeaked protests.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized gently, leaving his cave. “I cannot feed…nor carry you…like urSol can…”

He knew a few others had begun producing milk in response to the urling’s presence. urUtt and urNol carried the scent to them. Perhaps even urIm. urTao could not see any of them but he thankfully caught sight of the Chanter and the Scribe on the far side of the valley floor. The Planner sighed, beginning the steady trek down the winding path toward them.

“Your little one…is hungry,” he stated once he reached them.

“You are not…?” urAc asked, surprised.

urTao shook his head. “I seem…distant…from such activities…”

“Perhaps not…for long,” urSol suggested, taking his infant gently. “Thank you for…watching them…”

urTao did not understand what urSol meant.

.o.o.o.o.

Long ago, urTao had contemplated the idea of making a family with urHom the Carpenter. The other, though concussed and foggy in the head at times, had so desperately wanted some legacy of his own. It’s why he worked so hard on his structures, like the sleep frames they all had. He knew his time would come one day and he wanted to leave pieces of himself behind for them all to remember him by.

urHom’s death had left urTao deeply rattled. Perhaps that is when he’d withdrawn from the rest. Even now, so many hundreds of trine later, that distance was not fully bridged. Pieces were fixed, some jumped the gap, but the walls he’d erected the day urHom died were not fully broken.

It was urHom who had claimed his heart…and urHom had taken it to the grave with him.

urTao loved his fellows, he truly did. urNol and urIm had cared for him so much when his back had broken. urSu helped him relearn to walk. urUtt wove thick garments to shield him from the cold that felt so unnaturally unbearable to him. Everyone loved him as much as he loved them and they all loved each other.

They had to. They only had each other. They could not afford to further divide.

Or so he believed, until the day urVa left. Then urGoh and urSan. urVa and urSan sometimes came back, but urGoh just…vanished. The rest said he was fine and urVa saw him often enough on their travels. It was silly for urTao to fear and worry, but he did.

These were his family. He loved them all. Losing urYa hurt. Watching urHom die as he did had been heart-breaking. To know others simply disappeared without his knowledge, the idea was like a knife through the chest.

He didn’t want to lose more family. Even crippled as he was…he wanted to protect them.

Maybe that’s why he was doing this unbelievably stupid thing, climbing up the rocky outcropping where he heard the loud cries of urSol’s urling, far above the ground…

.o.o.o.o.

urTao knew he shouldn’t be doing this. This was dangerous and risky and very stupid but…he had to. There was no other way to get up there quickly.

The Planner dug his fingers into the rough stone of the cliff wall. He steadily climbed, testing each handhold and foothold before putting his weight into them. urRu weren’t exactly light creatures, after all. He had several hundred pounds to his name and he was lighter than some of his kind.

urSol’s urling kept crying high above him. How they got up here, urTao had no idea.

The rest of the valley was down below, trying to find safer alternatives to reaching the top of the cliff. urNol and urIm had begged him not to climb, but some instinctive urge demanded him to. So, despite all of their completely true arguments, urTao climbed the stone until his fellows were moving blobs far below.

The terror coiled in his belly. With each foot he gained, he swore he saw tree branches whiz by him. The wind snapping in his feathers. The sudden gut-wrenching realization that he was plunging seventy feet for an arrow—an arrow, for Thra’s sake!

Then urTao would stop and breathe. These were not his thoughts.

These were…skekTah’s? Was this how their back had broken? Had skekTah fallen from a great height, from a tree? Why had the Skeksis been up a tree? For an arrow? Who’s arrow? Why?

These questions and more were dumped into the abyss. urTao had no time to ask them. He would not find answers now, anyway. He had a task to do. He could not afford to be distracted by his counterpart.

He forced himself not to look down. His heart boomed in his ears with each body length of distance that he gained. He kept climbing, eyes squinting as the Sun Brothers passed above, light burning him. He gritted his teeth, hands aching as the stone cut into them.

The crying got louder. He must be getting closer.

His heart jammed itself into his throat when one of his handholds broke off, dropping him two feet before the strength of his other five limbs caught him. urTao let the broken stone fall. He waited, breathing for a bit. Then he swallowed the terror, finding a new handhold.

He had to keep climbing. urSol’s urling needed help. They were family.

He grabbed the edge, heaving himself halfway onto it. His back brace creaked ominously, a branch cracking. All warning signs that he had to ignore. He could feel phantom claws in his ribcage. skekTah, feeling the bolts of pain through his back.

urTao could see the urling curled to the back of the tiny, shallow crevice in the side of the cliff. He could see the cliff top and some vines above. Did the urling tumble from there and land here with the vines?

Four powerful but old arms pushed him up. His feet pawed at the cliff side, levering him up and over. He collapsed in a heavy heap, gasping. Soon the tiny weight of a frightened urling was glued to his face, the infant clinging like their life depended on him.

And maybe, in a way, it did.

“You’re okay,” he reassured, a shaky hand lying across the quivering infant’s back. A low hum building in his throat, a comforting gesture. “You’re safe now… I’m here…”

.o.o.o.o.

urTao was not sure how long he was there, a heap on the ground, an urling dozing atop his snout. Their fear and misery petering out into warm comfort. Temporary safety in the form of companionship.

They were still a long way from the ground. He knew he could not climb back down. Climbing up was already risky enough. He would need to go up the rest of the way and find a smoother way down from the top of the cliff. It would be safer, for both him and urSol’s urling.

When he finally forced himself to rise, his back thrummed with pain. The Sun Brothers were dipping over the cliff, returning his vision to him. The urling whimpered, pawing at his belly. urTao sighed, wishing there was something he could do to help beyond simply being here.

He could not carry the child in his hands. He needed every limb for the climb ahead. That left…

urTao gritted his teeth as he wedged fingers into his pouch, steadily opening it. The skin was tight, not loosened by pregnancy or childbearing like urSol’s was. Raw determination drove the Planner to bear the bolts of pain as he manually stretched his pouch. It wasn’t the greatest fit but it was all he could do. It was the only other place the urling would be safe until they reached solid ground again.

The urling did not complain about the tightness. Perhaps it was almost comforting, like an especially tight embrace. urTao squeezed his eyes tight, groaning as the urling wriggled between the layers of skin until they were tucked neatly inside. He could feel the child mouthing at the nipples within, trying to draw forth milk that simply wasn’t there.

“I’m sorry…that I am not…a good parent…” he said sadly. “But I…will get you…home safely…”

He moved out onto the lip of the crevice that he had collapsed onto. Hooking fingers into the cliff wall, he began to climb again. urTao was careful to bow his back out, to keep his now enlarged stomach away from the rough stones of the cliff. He flinched and twitched frequently, his back protesting the awkward positioning.

It wasn’t far to the top, though it was no easier. Anxiety and a high awareness for the precious cargo he carried made him especially careful in where he put his weight. urTao almost forgot to breathe until he reached the top, hauling himself up and over onto the dry, yellowing grass covering the cliff top.

“Now…to get down…” he muttered, rising again on aching feet.

The tiny movements of the urling faded into the background, as well as the frequent suckling they tried. urTao kept walking, using a stick he found along the way as a walking stick for extra support to his tired body. The cliff thankfully seemed to angle down into the far side, just past the valley lip. It would take time but he could get there by nightfall.

If he squinted, he swore that he saw shapes at the bottom. Perhaps the others had made the same connection, only in reverse.

“We are…on our way…urSol…” urTao muttered. 

.o.o.o.o.

It was urSu, urSol, and urTih that had begun to scale the path down below. urTao was grateful to meet up with them midway. The four turned together to scale the way down again at their slow pace, the sky darkening over them as the Sun Brothers surrendered the sky to the Moon Sisters.

“Where is…my urling?” urSol asked, looking over the Planner.

urTao straightened up a bit, biting down a yelp as his back ached. urTih grabbed his arm, lone eye wide in alarm.

“Your back,” he said. “How bad?”

“Bad,” urTao admitted. “Damaged the brace…but I endured…for the urling…”

The trio fell silent as urTao’s pouch shifted. The urling poked their snout out, yawning. urSol smiled, head lowering to nuzzle the child, relieved.

“You did…all of this…despite the pain…” urSu said, patting the Planner’s shoulder.

“You would all…do the same,” urTao replied, giving a pained smile.

“We would,” urTih agreed. “Come… We must see to…your back…”

“You’re…producing?”

urTao blinked, looking down at urSol. The Chanter rose, lifting a finger. A milky substance clung to his finger. From the Planner’s pouch, the urling smacked their lips and yawned before sinking back inside. urTao fell still as he felt the urling begin to suckle.

This time it felt different. This time it felt…nice.

“It seems…I am,” urTao admitted, cheeks warm with embarrassment.


End file.
